Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Family Secrets ❯ The New Girl ( Chapter 1 )

" Listen up. Kaibara High School has received a new transfer student," said the teacher.

The door to the classroom slowly opened and a young girl walked inside. Tohru Honda weaved her gaze in and around the other students in an attempt to get a glimpse of the new girl. The girl walked over towards the teacher's desk and stopped. She turned to face to class, her actions seemed methodical, almost as if she had done this sort of thing many times. Her long white hair rested casually on her shoulders, and a bright red ribbon was tied tightly around her head, flattening her hair in a small spot. Her bright yellow eyes scanned the classroom taking in each student one at a time.

" This is Miya Higurashi," the teacher said as Miya bowed to the class. " Miya's deaf, I'm told she can read lips as long as we speak slowly."

The teacher put her hand on the girl's shoulder and Miya looked up at her. "There's…a…desk…near…the…back."

The young girl nodded and walked slowly towards the back of the classroom towards her new desk. She slinked into the chair and reached into her bag, pulling out her notebook and pen. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a nearby desk being pushed closer to her own. She looked up to find a brown haired girl with a smile on her face.

" I'm…Tohru…Honda," said the girl maybe a little too slowly. "You…can…share… my…book."

Miya looked away, " Thank you." Her voice was emotionless and monotone.

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Tohru stood at her locker talking with Uotani and Hanajima. They had gym class next and weren't necessarily looking forward to it.

" I hate track and field," sighed Uotani. " Going to run longer than two minutes today Hana?"

" We'll see," Hanajima answered as she watched the white haired girl fumble helplessly with her new locker. Uotani walked over to the girl and slammed her hand into the locker. It popped open almost on cue.

" Old lockers, sometimes you have to knock 'em around a little," Uotani said as she walked back towards Tohru and Hanajima. Miya peeked around her locker door and stared at the trio of girls. She was surprised that already two people had spoken to her this morning. At her old schools no one had even come within arms reach of her, they had stayed far away as if she had some sort of communicable disease. She felt a tiny rush of excitement flow through her, could it be possible that she may actually be able to make friends here?

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" Alright girls, 400 metre sprint. Line up! Let's go! Once …around…the…track… Miya," said the gym teacher making an invisible circle in the air with her finger. Miya nodded at the teacher and turned away rolling her eyes. She hated having people talk to her like she was slow but it had to be done, she had no choice. She lined up next to the rest of the class and bent down mimicking the others girls starting positions.

" Ready! Get Set! Go!"

The girls took off running. Hanajima stopped just short of the starting line, collapsing into a heap complaining that she would need to sit out, she didn't feel well. Some of the girls were pacing themselves, but most of them watched in awe as Miya left them in a trail of dust. She didn't run like most people, her arms were stretched out straight behind her and she seemed to lean downwards, all the time looking directly ahead of her and taking abnormally large strides. She reached the finish line long before any of the other girls.

" I've…never…seen…anyone…run…like…that 230;before," said her teacher with a hint of confusion and awkwardness in her voice. " But…it…appears…to…work…well…for… you."

Miya smiled casually and sat down next to the teacher as they waited for the rest of the girls to finish. The rest of gym class went normally, except for the high jump. Aside from being the best runner in the class, she also appeared to be an incredible high jumper. Her jumps were graceful and carefully timed. She easily cleared the highest height the bar would reach, it was as if she had springs attached her feet.

Back in the change room, the girls were changing back into their school uniforms. A tall blonde girl, clearly rather popular, accidentally dropped her necklace and Miya reached down to pick it up. The girl had also reached down at the exact same moment but something had startled her and she jumped back with a loud shriek.

" What's wrong Kana?" cried a tall thin black haired girl.

" Her hands…oh god, they're…oh god…what are you?" cried Kana backing away from Miya as if the shy white haired girl was a hideous monster ready to devour the blonde beauty. Miya grabbed her things and ran out of the change room as Tohru looked on.

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Lunchtime couldn't come soon enough for Miya. She found a quiet empty spot on the roof of the school overlooking the town and sat down on the cold ground. She pulled her lunch out of the brown paper bag. Chicken. She loved chicken. Miya began eating when she noticed someone sit down next to her. She looked up to see the brown haired girl who had offered her her textbook earlier that day. Miya dropped her chicken and hid her hands in her skirt. This girl was just like the ones from her old schools, she may have seemed nice before, but now she too would want gawk and stare at her hands. They always did.

" Can…I…have…lunch…with…you?" Tohru asked slowly.

" If you want," replied Miya looking at her hands, she wouldn't dare talk to her face to face. Why should she give her something else to tell her friends about. Her whole life was one big secret, she was always hiding things from everyone and she hated it. Why had her mother forced her to have an education, why couldn't she have just gone to live with her father where she would accepted and safe from cruel girls like Kana. The girls ate in silence until Tohru spoke up.

" Can…I…ask…you…something?"

" Go ahead," replied Miya already knowing what her question would be.

" How…did…you…uh, never mind," said Tohru, she had lost her nerve.

" I was born with out them," replied Miya looking down at her half eaten lunch taking Tohru by shock. " You were going to ask me why I don't have ears right?"

" Uh…I'm…sorry," said Tohru sincerely. It was true, that had been the question that Tohru was going to ask. It had been one of the first things she had noticed about the new girl. Most deaf people still had ears that sat on either side of their face, this girl, had none. As Miya reached out for another piece of her chicken, Tohru took a quick glance down at her hands. Her hands seemed normal enough but her fingernails were abnormally long and slender, almost like…claws?

" Where are your friends?" asked Miya looking out over the town then turning her gaze back to Tohru so she could read Tohru's lips as they replied.

" Umm…I'm…not…sure."

" Tohru? What are you doing up here? I've been looking for you all lunch hour, Hanajima and Uotani said they didn't know where you were," asked a young boy with orange hair.

" Oh Kyo, I'm sorry. I was eating lunch with my new friend Miya," replied Tohru with a smile.

" Shigure needs you to pick up some groceries after school okay?" said Kyo casually.

" Oh yes, of course."

Kyo turned and walked back inside the school as the bell rang. The girls began to gather their things when suddenly Tohru stood up very straight.

" Is everything alright?" asked Miya burying her face in her bag.

" Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Uh, I mean, do…you…want…to…"

" Really?" said Miya in shock. First this girl refers to her as her new friend and now she's inviting her over for dinner? What was going on? There would be a full moon tonight, so she would be okay, but that meant that the new moon was not far off and she wouldn't be able to do anything that night.

" If…you…want," replied Tohru meekly.

" I'd…I'd love to," answered Miya with a hint of excitement in her voice. Tohru watched as Miya walked back into the school. Suddenly everything dawned on her, she really hadn't had any right to invite someone over without asking first. Hopefully Shigure wouldn't be too upset with her.